this post was submitted on 09 Mar 2024
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Back then you could buy expensive products that were made to last. Today we can mostly choose between cheap products that don't last and expensive product that don't last either
Island economics, as long as the U.S. was mainly a closed system or a net exporter, we could do that because of a strong dollar.
Now that the entire world is a market, our actual dollar, or more accurately, the value per work hour, is staggeringly low compared to our grandfathers.
We literally cannot afford to buy lifelong products anymore despite manufacturing getting cheaper because our buying power dropped faster.
Oh sure, blame it on the consumers and not the rich assholes who cut corners on their products year after year after year in search of higher profit margins...
I don’t think they’re blaming it on consumers. And they aren’t wrong either. The power of the dollar is far less than it was even in the Great Depression. Thanks late stage capitalism!
The reason why wealth inequality has skyrocketed has less than nothing to do with the buying power of a single dollar. It's completely missing the cause.
I don’t think anyone is actually talking about the cause. Doesn’t make their point any less valid.
It kinda' does make it less valid when using it first is an implication away from the root cause.
We should not glorify red herring thought patterns.
I was just the other day reading this article about how fast fashion has ruined vintage shopping because there's this decades-long gap now between when clothes were made to last and our more recent obsession with fast fashion. People used to discard clothes because they were out of style and not because they just looked like crap after 16 months.
Notable mention....I bought an Oster blender 20 years ago that's still going strong.
There are plenty of high end products which last. Be honest, you just don't have money to buy them. But you couldn't buy them back then either, so you just didn't have products at all.
Okay, show me a list of high end products that last with our society of corporate planned obsolescence.
My friend just picked up a 50+ year old joiner and drill press that still works like a boss. Meanwhile, my Delta drill press that I've had for less than a decade has already started acting up.
I'll grant you that higher priced items will last longer than the harbor freight stuff, the Sam Vimes 'Boots' Theory of Socio-Economic Unfairness still apply in this day and age, but it's not anywhere near the build quality and maintainability that things used to be, at least that's what I've noticed.
You might also be experiencing survivorship bias.
How many other old drill presses were tossed/didn't make it?
Just like people machines have variance in their materials and assembly. It's entirely possible that many other, in your case, drill presses, broke early on in their life but a few have lasted.
We do have some ridiculously disposable products these days but I do think you can still get things that last.
My American Giant clothes for instance, I've definitely had some fraying on a few pieces but the majority of the clothes I've got from them still look like new and leave very very little dryer lint compared to my older department store shirts.
GoRuck backpacks are built like a tank though I'm upset they moved most manufacturing to Vietnam... Can we not repeat the mistake of empowering/trading with regimes?
I have a Cannondale bike that's still in great shape after nearly a decade of fairly regular use.
My wired Sennheiser headphones (DT 660S) have significantly outlasted just about all of my friends headphones (by like 2-3 headphones). I just recently had to replace the cable on them but once I did that (and bought an extra spare cable) they're like new.
I've got plenty of TVs (Samsung & Sony), monitors (Samsung, Asus, and Dell), and computers (mostly hand built using various parts ... mostly from ASUS, MSI, and Corsair) around that are still running just fine almost a decade later and I know of some early LED panel TVs that are still running just fine.
I also know of some recent LED TVs and appliances made by "LG" that have started to break horrendously.
I've found Logitech, Corsair mice and Ducky, System76, Corsair keyboards to significantly out last Razor mice and Razor, WASD keyboards.
My DeWalt tools are running like a champ still and significantly smaller and lighter than what my father's (also still running DeWalt tools) were/are.
I absolutely adore my Brother printer vs all the HP printers I had before.
Meanwhile my Akron, Ohio house that was built in the 60s by professionals has several design issues that have resulted in floors sagging after all these years and will likely need all the pipes replaced in the next 20-30 years because of inferior materials like cast iron plumbing.
There are still brands that do actually make products that last. The "poor tax" is definitely real though, a lot of these products do cost a lot more upfront but I've bought significantly less stuff and paid less over time because I have paid that upfront price.
Sometimes you pay a lot of money and it still goes bad ... but in general, I've gotten what I've paid for.
Another thing to note is ease of repair. My folks have been using my dad's 65 CJ5 jeep and a 04 John Deere tractor. Can't remember the exactly the model off the top of my head but they are both used as work wood haulers. The jeep has broken down a few times but it doesn't take longer than a afternoon to make repairs but the tractor has only broken down less because we don't use it as often because it always takes a week to fix the things that go wrong. We also have a 15 F150 to haul wood and stuff but because it's new and we got it in really nice condition so we try to baby it as much as we can when loading up fire wood into the bed. My 56 bel air is surprisingly straight up reliable I've never had to work on it as often as our modern cars but yet again we use it less and baby it when we can.
Again, the Sam Vimes 'Boots' Theory of Socio-Economic Unfairness still holds but planned obsolescence where shit, even good shit, falls apart more readily than before.
Sure there could be survivor bias as you state but I still own a crap ton of stuff inherited from the 50/60/70's that's holding up much better than today's cheap plastic junk and items that are literally designed to fall apart, including your dewalts, deltas, milwalkees, mikatas. Not saying that planned obsolescence wasn't a thing back then, it certainly was but it's a fuck ton more prevalent now than it was back then and repairing, something that today's companies are actively fighting consumers against makes it even worse in today's throwaway culture.
That and I still think that the OP of this conversation thread is a bit of pretentious dick.
Miele appliances still last ages and you still don't have money to buy them. My Wenger backpack lasted 10 years of heavy use. All of my high end EU made stuff just lasts. Stop buying shit.
But if I repeatedly set it on fire, freeze it, stab it with knifes, & hang 800ib on it, will it last?
Haha poor can't afford 1000$+ nearly indestructible backpack. Haha poor.
I mean fuck all these poor people who can't afford a Wenger backpack and Miele appliances amirite? And a whole two things on that list, impressive.
But which? For example, I try to buy sneakers from brands that treat and pay their employees fairly, but am struggling to make them last more than a couple years. I'm comfortable paying 100 to 150 euro per pair. Is this too cheap to buy it for lasting??
Shoes are different I recall my athletic coach in school told me to replace sneakers every 6 months due to the wear down of the interior foam.
He was right. Bo matter the brand the insides wear out. So I got arch support inserts for my footwear and I use them until the tread wears out now.
I just wish footwear was easier to repair
You can't repair your quality sneakers because they're a wear and tear part instead of your feet. Repairing your feet and legs is more expensive than buying new shoes.
If you want sneakers, you're pretty much out of luck. You can pay top dollar for a handmade shoe that will last, but it won't have sneaker aesthetics.
I'm with you though, I bought name brand sneakers, loafers etc. for $150 only to have them fall apart after one summer. I'm talking a span of time that can be expressed in weeks. Given the material cost and knowing how and where they are produced, that's corporate greed, nothing else.
I don't buy sneakers any more.
I know I'm kinda odd here because I've been accustomed to work boots as daily shoes. Partly because I live in a place where everywhere is muddy wet and covered in manure. Even then i don't understand how people find sneakers comfortable. They are ridiculously tight you feel like you're walking on carpet all the time and you have to make sure your only stepping on the dryest cleanest perfect ground you can find. The lack of durability just makes me question even further why bother.
Nah, you're not odd - same thing happened to me. I grabbed a pair of work boots one day and kept wearing them since they didn't fall apart, I guess. Just two days ago I was looking at a pair somewhat dumbfounded and remarked that they're still around.
Although I have to say, my lifestyle also changed. I moved out of the city, so my style and requirements for footwear probably also changed, come to think about it.
I buy sneakers still but I focus on well reviewed runners. They're light, breathable and usually have treads to last.
With a foot insert they last me a few years.
I can see how that could work. I had a few decent pairs from Japanese brands that lasted a while. But, as you said, those were running shoes with a certain, very pronounced "sporty" look that didn't translate well to being worn as part of a casual bar or club outfit, which was definitely a consideration for me back then.
That piece of advice doesn't really apply to things like workboots. There are plenty of solid workboot brands that sell ~$300 boots that'll last 3-5 years easily if properly taken care of. Some jobs are the exception, of course.
Agreed on boots. But I specifically mentioned sneakers.
Work boots and hiking boots can last a decade. You can retread them at a cobbler even.